Sunday, 22 September 2013

GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Israel on Sunday permitted delivery of cement and steel for use by the private sector into the Gaza Strip for the first time since 2007, a Palestinian Authority official said.

"Israel allowed today for the first time in six years, the entry of 40 trucks filled with gravel, 20 trucks loaded with cement and 10 with steel for the private sector in Gaza" Raed Fattouh, the PA official in charge of Gaza supplies, said in a statement.

Fearing that Gaza's Hamas rulers would use construction materials to fortify its positions and build tunnels to aid attacks, Israel banned their transfer in 2007.

In a truce deal after an eight-day confrontation with Hamas in November 2012, Israel started letting 20 trucks of gravel in each day. more